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Who are some non-tendered position players that could help the Colorado Rockies?

By Noah Yingling

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - MAY 11: C.J. Cron #24 of the Minnesota Twins hits a three-run home run against the Detroit Tigers during the fifth inning of game two of a doubleheader on May 11, 2019 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Twins defeated the Tigers 8-3. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - MAY 11: C.J. Cron #24 of the Minnesota Twins hits a three-run home run against the Detroit Tigers during the fifth inning of game two of a doubleheader on May 11, 2019 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Twins defeated the Tigers 8-3. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /
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ATLANTA, GEORGIA – SEPTEMBER 21: Left fielder Joey Rickard #37 of the San Francisco Giants hits a single in the second inning during the game against the Atlanta Braves at SunTrust Park on September 21, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GEORGIA – SEPTEMBER 21: Left fielder Joey Rickard #37 of the San Francisco Giants hits a single in the second inning during the game against the Atlanta Braves at SunTrust Park on September 21, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images) /

Joey Rickard

Joey Rickard, 28, was another player non-tendered by the Giants. You probably haven’t heard of him but he joined the Giants in June of last year as one of their back-up outfielders after spending some time with the Orioles.

He is a light-hitter (82 OPS+ in parts of 4 MLB seasons) but he could provide the Rockies with some outfield depth. In the past three seasons, he has had 13 fDRS and while he hasn’t stolen a lot of bases, Statcast has him in the 83rd percentile for sprint speed so he could be a good defensive replacement late in games for the Rockies.

MLBTR’s Matt Swartz projected that he would make $1.1 million in arbitration but I suspect that the Rockies could get him for less than that, perhaps even a MiLB deal with a spring invite.

Travis Shaw

The Milwaukee Brewers non-tendered a lot of players to free up some payroll space and one of them was Travis Shaw.

Shaw, 29, had an awful 2019 season. In 86 games, he hit .157/.281/.270 with a 45 OPS+. That coupled with the fact that he was projected to make $4.7 million in arbitration is why the Brewers let him loose.

However, in both 2017 and 2018, he was a key offensive cog for the Brewers as he averaged 32 home runs and 94 RBI with a .258/.347/.497 slash between the two seasons (296 games).

His primary position is third base and he’s obviously not displacing Nolan Arenado but he has played more than a combined 60 games at first and second base in the past two seasons so he could provide the Rockies with a platoon at either position or a powerful bench bat.

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